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Nominees sought for grievance
commission, disciplinary board

The
Iowa Supreme Court has asked the ISBA, as one of several lawyer organizations
in the state, to provide nominees for its Attorney Disciplinary Board and
Grievance Commission. The nominees are needed to fill vacancies for terms
beginning July 1.

Two
lawyer positions – one male and one female -- are open on the disciplinary
board. A number of positions are open on the grievance commission in all but
three of the 14 judicial election subdistricts. See those positions here.

To
be considered for nomination, please complete the information on the form available
here, and click on
"Submit.” Alternatively, you can email the information, using the online form
as a guide, toISBA@iowabar.org. Be
sure to put "Board/Commission Nominee” in the subject line of the email so that
the email will be directed to the right area.

All
nominations must reach the ISBA office by Friday (March 21). President-elect
Joe Feller and bar leadership will review the nominations and submit them to
the court.

ISBA opposes proposed switch to
accrual accounting method

ISBA
leaders have sent letters to each of Iowa’s congressional representatives
asking them to oppose draft legislation that would require law firms and other
personal service businesses to switch to an accrual method of accounting if
their annual gross receipts are $10 million or more.

The
letters address provisions in Section 212 of a U.S. House of Representatives
bill prepared by the House Ways and Means Committee, and Section 51 of a Senate
bill prepared by the Senate Finance Committee that would require the change
from cash-basis to accrual-basis accounting.

The
letters, which are signed by ISBA President Guy Cook and Taxation Section Chair
Christopher Nuss, state that although the legislation in each chamber "may seem
on the surface to simplify tax law with respect to accounting method, we are
concerned that passing this portion of the Draft Bill would greatly complicate
compliance with tax accounting rules and also burden law firms and other
personal service businesses, primarily by requiring those businesses to pay tax
on income they have not received in cash, if ever received.”

Congressman
Bruce Braley was one of 71 members of Congress who signed a letter dated Nov.
25, 2013 expressing serious concerns about the proposed accounting changes.
Read the letter here.

Services for
Judge William Thomas tomorrow, Friday

Visitation for District Six Senior Judge
William Thomas, Cedar Rapids, will be held tomorrow (Feb. 20) at the Cedar
Memorial Funeral Home, and funeral services will be held Friday (Feb. 21) at
the First Congregational United Church of Christ. Judge Thomas, who was
appointed to the district court bench in 1981, died Sunday (Feb. 16) at his
home. He had battled colon cancer for a number of years.

The visitation will take place from
4 to 7 p.m. at the funeral home located at 4200 1st Ave., N.E. in
Cedar Rapids. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. at the church located at 3rd
Ave. and 17th St. S.E., also in Cedar Rapids.

"Judge Thomas was a great judge and a wonderful
man," said ISBA President Guy Cook after hearing of his death.

Condolences and notes of remembrance
can be sent to Julie Thomas at 4749 Mount Vernon Rd. S.E., Cedar Rapids, IA
52403. Memorial contributions can be made to Mediation Services of Eastern
Iowa, Indian Creek Nature Center-Paddle Day or Kids First Law Center.

Justice Appel to speak in Drake’s constitutional
lecture series

The
Constitutional Law Center at Drake University Law School has announced that
Iowa Supreme Court Justice Brent Appel will present the 2014 lecture in the
"Judge James T. Grant Iowa Constitution Lecture Series.”

The
lecture, entitled "State Constitutional
Law in Iowa: Past, Present and Future”
will be held on Thursday (March 27) from 3-4 pm at Drake University Law School’s
Cartwright Hall, Room 206. A reception
will follow the presentation.

Justice
Appel was appointed to the supreme court in 2006. A Dubuque native, he
received his bachelor's and master's degree from Stanford University and his law
degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Chart shows
history of corn prices, revenue per acre

Interested
in what the price of corn and the revenue from corn production has done the
past 100 years?

Check
out thischart
put together by attorney Michel Nelson at Iowa Savings Bank in Carroll. It contains
graphs that show the price of a bushel of corn over the last 100 years, the
gross revenue per acre from raising corn the last 100 years and the price of
Carroll County farmland from 1950 to 2013. Nelson also included a line showing
what corn prices and farmland values would be when adjusted for inflation.

The
chart demonstrates that corn prices have been relatively flat over the century,
except perhaps for the last 6-7 years. Gross revenue per acre from corn
production has had more peaks and valleys than corn prices, but still ranges
generally from $300 to $800 per acre.

Supreme Court to hear oral arguments
in Clarinda

Justices
of the Iowa Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on two cases at the Clarinda
High School auditorium, 100 North Cardinal Drive in Clarinda, beginning at 7
p.m. on March 11.

State
of Iowa v. Dustin Dean Short involves a defendant who was subjected to a
warrantless but limited-in-scope search by law enforcement at his residence. At
issue is whether such a search is valid under Iowa’s constitutional search and
seizure provision.

In
the Matter of the Guardianship and Conservatorship of Kennedy the court is being
asked to decide whether vasectomy is a major elective surgery requiring the
guardian of the developmentally delayed adult to first obtain court approval
before the procedure.

2014 Taxation Update DVD now available

A
video recording of the 2014 Taxation Update seminar that occurred on Jan. 20 is
now available for purchase and viewing.

The
117-minute recording features speakers Roger McEowen from the Iowa State
University Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation, Kristy Maitre from the IRS
and Joe Kristan from Roth & Company. They discuss a host of topics in four
separate categories including:

Key recent rulings and cases and
their implications

Treatment of gains and losses

Safe Harbors

Delay in the filing season

ID theft and how to proceed if
return rejects

The
recording is for educational purposes only; no CLE credit is available. It
sells for $45 plus shipping and taxes.

To
see the full list of topics covered and to purchase the DVD, visit here or go the ISBA Store and click on Electronic Media. ISBA members, please log-in to view the product. Non-members must register as a guest to purchase the DVD.

…the ISBA is offering a free one-hour ethics
presentation titled "Ethics Law for New Lawyers" from its listings of on-demand CLE courses in its On-Demand CLE
Catalog? Other video topics available include Business Entities, Civil Procedure,
Guardianships, Iowa Contracts, and Probate and Estate Administration. To access
the catalog directly, click here.
ISBA members, please log-in to the ISBA website to get the full benefits of the On-Demand CLE Catalog.

Benefit of the Week

Caselaw UpdateCaselaw
Update is a free email service that keeps you abreast of recent cases
that have been added to the Iowa Bar’s case law archives. Once you are
subscribed, you will receive an email each time decisions are handed
down by the Iowa Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. Each edition
summarizes recent cases by topic and provides direct links to the full
text of each decision.

Iowa Supreme Court Decisions

Appeal
from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Gary D. McKenrick, Judge.

An
applicant seeks further review of a court of appeals decision affirming the
constitutionality of the applicant’s sentence of life in prison with immediate
parole eligibility. DECISION OF COURT OF APPEALS AND JUDGMENT OF DISTRICT
COURT IS CONDITIONALLY AFFIRMED; CASE REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.

No.
12-0024STATE
OF IOWA, Plaintiff, vs. IOWA DISTRICT COURT FOR STORY COUNTY

Certiorari
to the Iowa District Court for Story County, Timothy J. Finn, Judge.

The
district court determined a sex offender was eligible for modification of his
offender registration obligation. The State filed a petition for writ of
certiorari. WRIT ANNULLED.